3 questions Scottish public sector buyers ask before a branding brief

What to take away

Brand Agency Guide is an England-focused branding agency directory and reviews site. This guide looks at Scottish public sector procurement, but it exists to help the same readers.

If you are comparing agencies in England, use the directory to check credentials, sector experience and client reviews. The three questions below also help when an English brand hires an agency for a public sector brief that crosses into Scotland, or when an English agency bids for Scottish work.

Question one: which procurement route will this brief take?

Scottish public bodies rarely start by choosing a branding agency. They start by choosing a procurement route. That choice decides how long the process takes, who can bid, and what the agency is allowed to ask.

The route depends on the estimated contract value, the nature of the requirement, and whether an existing framework covers it. Regulated procurements under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 are those above £50,000 for goods and services, and £2,000,000 for works.

The UK-wide thresholds for advertising in Find a Tender are £139,688 for central government bodies and £214,904 for other public bodies for goods and services. A small brand refresh below the relevant threshold may go through a quick quote or a low-value procedure. A full rebrand with research, strategy and rollout will almost always be regulated.

For a branding agency, the practical question is not just which route the buyer uses, but whether the buyer has already decided. Some briefs arrive with a route attached. Others arrive with a problem and no route. The second kind is where an agency can shape the outcome.

Under the Scottish public sector buying rules, regulated procurements must be advertised on Public Contracts Scotland. That includes most contracts above the relevant thresholds. If a buyer says the work is exempt, an agency should ask for the legal basis, not accept it at face value.

The Scottish Government's statutory guidance on the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 sets out the principles that apply.

Steps to identify the route

If the answer to step two is yes, the agency must decide whether to bid through the framework or wait for an open competition. Framework call-offs are usually faster but narrower. Open competitions are slower but allow more creative freedom. Neither is automatically better.

For agencies that want to understand how a brief should be structured before the route is fixed, our guide on how to brief a branding agency is a useful starting point. Buyers who arrive with a clear brief tend to run cleaner procurements.

Public Contracts Scotland and the frameworks agencies must know

Public Contracts Scotland is the national advertising portal for public sector contracts in Scotland. It is where most regulated opportunities appear, including branding, design and communications work. If an agency is not monitoring it, the agency is not really bidding for Scottish public sector work.

The portal is not a framework. It is a noticeboard and a set of tools. Frameworks are separate agreements, often awarded by central purchasing bodies, that let public bodies call off services without running a full competition each time. For example, Scotland Excel's Creative and Design Services framework and APUC's Creative Services framework cover design and creative services.

For branding agencies, the frameworks that matter most are those covering marketing, communications, design and creative services. These can be national, sector-specific or regional. Some are open to all suppliers; others are reserved for small and medium-sized enterprises or for supported businesses.

A framework place is not a guarantee of work. It is a route to being considered. Many frameworks operate a further competition or a direct award mechanism. Agencies need to know which applies before they invest in a bid.

Public Contracts Scotland also hosts Quick Quote, a lighter process for lower-value requirements. Quick Quote is often used for small design projects, and it is worth monitoring even if the agency mainly targets larger work. Small projects can lead to larger ones.

Checklist before bidding through a framework

Frameworks can also impose their own terms. An agency that wins a place may still need to negotiate contract clauses with the individual public body. Framework terms and call-off terms are not always identical.

Question two: what bilingual delivery is expected?

Bilingual delivery in Scotland usually means English and Scottish Gaelic. In some contexts it can also include Scots. The expectation is not uniform, and it is rarely stated clearly in the first brief.

A public body may need bilingual delivery for statutory reasons, for policy reasons, or because the audience requires it. Gaelic language plans, for example, can create obligations for named public authorities. For example, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Highland Council and the Scottish Government all have Gaelic language plans.

Even where no statutory duty applies, a body may choose bilingual output as a matter of good practice.

For a branding agency, bilingual delivery is not just translation. It affects naming, tone of voice, typography, line length and layout. Gaelic words are often longer than their English equivalents. A logo that works in English may not work in Gaelic without adjustment.

The practical questions to ask are: which languages, which audiences, which materials, and who signs off the Gaelic. A buyer may have an in-house Gaelic officer or an external translator. The agency should not assume it can source translation without approval.

Bilingual delivery also affects timelines. Translation and review add days, sometimes weeks. If the agency has not built that into the schedule, the launch date will slip.

Worked example: a bilingual brand rollout

A public body in the Highlands asks for a new brand identity for a visitor service. The brief mentions Gaelic but does not specify scope. The agency asks four questions before pricing.

The answers change the quote. If all four materials are bilingual, the agency needs a bilingual designer or a close working relationship with a translator. If only signage is bilingual, the scope is smaller but the design constraints are tighter.

The agency that asks these questions before submitting a price looks competent. The agency that does not will either underprice the work or produce a Gaelic version that the buyer cannot use.

Question three: how will the work be evaluated?

Evaluation is where most branding agency bids are won or lost. Scottish public bodies must publish their evaluation criteria and weightings in the tender documents. They must then score against those criteria.

Common criteria for branding work include relevant experience, proposed methodology, team credentials, understanding of the brief, social value and price. The weightings vary. Price is rarely the only factor, but it is rarely irrelevant.

Agencies should read the evaluation criteria before writing the response. The criteria tell the agency what the buyer values. If social value is weighted heavily, the agency should describe its community impact, not just its portfolio.

Evidence beats assertion. A claim such as "we are passionate about public sector branding" scores nothing. A statement such as "we delivered a bilingual identity for a public body, including Gaelic signage across twelve sites, and here is the outcome" scores well if it answers the question asked.

Some buyers use a quality-price ratio. Others use a fixed price with quality-only evaluation. The agency should know which model applies before deciding how much to invest in the bid.

The selection checklist approach used by many UK buyers is a useful mirror. It shows how a buyer narrows a long list before scoring. Agencies can use the same logic to decide whether to bid at all.

How to answer evaluation criteria well

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 duties behind the questions

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 is the main statute governing how Scottish public bodies buy goods and services. It sits alongside the UK-wide procurement rules that continue to apply in Scotland.

The Act places specific duties on public bodies. Section 1 requires them to publish a procurement strategy. Section 2 requires an annual report on procurement. Section 15 is the sustainable procurement duty, which means considering how procurement can improve economic, social and environmental wellbeing.

Section 18 requires them to consider fair work practices, including payment of the real Living Wage and ensuring trade union recognition. Section 24 allows community benefit clauses, which can require social value as part of the contract. These duties apply to all regulated procurements above £50,000 for goods and services.

For a branding agency, these duties mean the buyer may ask about environmental impact, ethical supply chains, workforce conditions and community benefits. The agency must be able to evidence its own practices, not just the campaign. A public body may ask about fair work practices in the agency's own business, not just in the campaign.

The statutory duties are published on the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 page, which is worth reading before bidding for any substantial Scottish public sector contract.

The Scottish Government's creative industries policy adds a further layer. The Scottish Government's creative industries policy supports the growth of creative businesses and the talent pipeline. A branding agency that can connect its work to that policy context is speaking the buyer's language.

The wider question of which UK rules apply to a branding agency can be confusing, especially when Scottish duties overlap with UK-wide rules. The short answer is that both can apply, and the agency should check each requirement on its own terms.

Answering well when you bid from Edinburgh, Glasgow or England

Agencies in Edinburgh, Glasgow and England can bid into the same national frameworks when eligible, but they do not face identical markets. Edinburgh has a concentration of public bodies, including the Scottish Government and many national institutions. Glasgow has a larger creative sector and a strong base of design and digital agencies.

Proximity can help, but it must be connected to delivery.

It also helps to know the buyer's own context. A health board, a local authority, a college and a national cultural body all buy branding differently. Their procurement teams have different thresholds, timetables and risk appetites.

For English and Scottish agencies new to Scottish public sector procurement, the best first step is to register on Public Contracts Scotland, set up alerts and read a few live tender documents before bidding. Reading is free. Bidding is not.

A practical bid preparation routine

None of this guarantees a win. But it does mean the agency is answering the three questions the buyer is actually asking, rather than the question the agency wished had been asked.

Common questions

Brand Agency Guide is a UK branding agency directory and reviews site with a primary focus on England. This article looks at Scottish public sector procurement, but it serves the same readers when a brief crosses into Scotland or when an English agency considers a Scottish opportunity.

Use the directory and reviews to compare UK agencies, check sector experience and shortlist. The three questions above still help you read the buyer's brief before you respond.